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Bible Wiki:Biblical Point of View
, being a wiki, is publicly editable and allows anyone to collaborate about biblical content. In order to be truthful2 Corinth 4:11, Romans 16:17, 1 Tim 6:3, Gal 1:9 and document the intended message of the Bible, rather than views that editors might prefer other than the truth2 Tim 4:3-4, Romans 1:25, this wiki implements a Biblical Point of View (BPOV). Biblical Point of View A Biblical Point of View entails that all content is written in a way that focuses on what the Bible has to say about a matter, rather than favoring a personal or denominational interpretation. Obviously in order for content to match this perspective, it must comply with a standard definition of what the Bible is or its canon. This is difficult for editors, and it is hoped that each one who comes to the wiki will seek guidance from God 1 Cor 2:14; Job 32:8; Luke 24:45Psa 119:34; 1 Kings 3:12; James 1:5. Without that help, personal perspectives, no matter how sincere, might misdirect the reader to worldly affairs. Consequently, the BPOV considers the sixty-six books the Bible as the ultimate authority, being God-inspired 2 Tim 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21 and reliable in all matters. Since the Bible is authored by God, it’s not the job of our content to question or to prove the Bible, but rather demonstrate the Bible’s reality through historical and cross-biblical consistency. The Bible is to be the prime source of all of the content of the Bible and information from the Apocrypha, Jewish traditionsMatt 15:3, Mark 7:8-9, Tit 1:14, Col 2:8 , or other historical sources must not be contradictory to the Bible. Writing Style For the most part, content should be written in past tense and the third person. Most importantly it should be written from the perspective of the Bible’s timeline. Perspective drawn from outside that timeline is inappropriate. However, when it comes to commenting on prophecies, particularly apocalyptic ones, events can be referred to as to be fulfilled, or having been fulfilled (beyond biblical times) without giving details in a modern fashion. This needs to be done in a way that explains the Biblical metaphors of these prophecies without alluding to the modern world. The form or style of perspective is often called by wikis as an “in-universe” perspective, but since the Bible is not fictional, this is inappropriate terminology. We must maintain this view since the Bible was written historically, with a specific audience and context in view, while still applying to us today. For example, Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians was written to Christians in first-century Galatia, not to us in present day, yet the principles found therein apply to us. Grammatical Rules Given the BPOV there are certain rules and procedures of grammar that must be followed for an article to obey: # All content should be in a past-tense. The exceptions to this are on currently applicable doctrines (such as Love), spiritual beings (God, Satan) and unfulfilled prophecies. Present tense phrasing should only be used in aspects of the listed exceptions that are still applicable or are ongoing. # '''All content should be in third person. '''Content directly addressing the reader using "you" or referring to Christians using "we" should be avoided. This type of content is allowed in blogposts and other non-article content. # '''All sentences should be declarative or only make statements. '''Imperative, interrogative and exclamatory statements are not allowed within the content (exception, exclamatory in special cases) # '''All information should be cited to relevant Bible Verses. '''This can be down via the "Insert" menu and selecting "Verse". Content Scope With that in mind, content here must only document the historical context of places, people or nations mentioned in the Bible. This is not a general ancient history wiki and so places not mentioned in the Bible, or certain eras of history not mentioned by the Bible about places should not be documented. For example, the history of pre-Christian Cyprus should not be documented, but Paul traveling to the island should. However, if historical details not mentioned in the Bible are important enough for understanding the context it may be documented at minimal. It is also important that when documenting theological content that it be based solely on the Bible and its entirety. In terms of literary content, it should document the events of the biblical timeline from the perspective that the Bible is a book and that all of our history is controlled by God. Content should be interpreted literally unless it is purposefully written to be symbolic (this can be determined when the literal meaning of a passage in context does not make factual or applicable sense), which in that case can be elaborated upon using cross-biblical references. To verify the integrity of one’s biblical point of view in their edits, the content of edits must be attributed to the Bible. While this is not required, it is highly recommended in order to provide a biblical basis for all content. Contrast to Wikipedia Having a Biblical Point of View directly contrasts Wikipedia’s “Neutral” Point of View. While Wikipedia is a general encyclopedia, is specific to the Bible and its theology, literature, and history. While Wikipedia documents the Bible, it does so in a modern and beyond biblical times view. The most significant difference to Wikipedia is while Wikipedia claims neutrality, we claim the truth of the Bible, no matter how upsetting it isGal 1:10. In contrast Wikipedia choses only a neutral point of view, or to consider “all viewpoints” rather than being truthful. This is merely due to that Wikipedia cannot accept the Bible as the true and authoritative source that comes from God. That is why is able to present the truth in a place Wikipedia cannot. While Wikipedia claims neutrality, by accepting all viewpoints and including different versions of articles for each belief, Wikipedia is not/cannot be neutral, biblicallyMatt 12:30, Prov 11:24, Mark 9:40, Luke 9:50, Luke 11:23. While Wikipedia claims no preference of viewpoint, it is obvious by reading Wikipedia’s content that it is unguided by the Holy Spirit and is pointing towards the Bible being false, due to Wikipedia crowdsourcing content from a godless society.John 17:4, Romans 12:2 Verses